Was Jack Unterweger, the flamboyant author and freelance journalist who interviewed the Chief of Police, really the killer? The question was hotly debated at police headquarters. Far from being a solitary weirdo on the fringe of society, Jack Unterweger was a literary celebrity who lived in the public eye and was always surrounded by women.
He was also Austria's greatest claim for criminal rehabilitation.
Sixteen years earlier he had murdered a girl, but while in prison he had
discovered literature and undergone a remarkable transformation. His
children’s stories were read on national radio, and his critically
acclaimed novel Purgatory was made into a film. The Austrian establishment campaigned for his freedom, and in
1990—the year before the murders began—he was released amid a blaze of
publicity. As the investigation of Jack Unterweger gathered momentum, the police realized that he had used his freedom to travel far and wide. |
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In the search for proof, Austrian and American detectives traced his movements all over Europe and Southern California. Meanwhile the lead investigator looked elsewhere for clues—in the suspect's novels, plays, and diaries, as well as into the disturbing secrets of his mysterious past.
The Vienna Woods Killer: A Writer's Double Life is scheduled for release on November 18, 2007. Look for it at your local bookstore, or pre-order it now on Amazon UK. The publisher is Granta Books, www.granta.com
